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2010/12: Should Australia's retirement age be raised to 67?





Introduction to the media issue

Video clip at right:
TOP: a short clip from the BBC's "Learning Zone" setting out Britain's problems with an ageing population, as well as looking at the raising of the retirement age. The questions covered are being asked in most Western countries, including Australia.

If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.

What they said...

'Working age people who can't afford to retire when they like ... are going to be pushed further away from retirement'
Michael Rafferty, from the University of Sydney's Workplace Research Centre

'Ensuring these people will stay in the workforce would solve some of these problems as these employees would save the public purse by not drawing pensions and they would continue to pay taxes'
Leon Gettler, an economics writer for The Age

The issue at a glance
On June 16, 2010, the French government announced its plan to cater for an ageing population. Under the plan, French workers will have to pay pension contributions for a longer period and new taxes will be placed on high-income earners and on capital gains to help plug a major shortfall in pensions funding. The retiring age will be raised from 60 to 62 by 2018.
'Working longer is inevitable. There is no magical solution,' Labour Minister Eric Woerth when he released the changes. Pushing back the retirement age appears to be the most controversial.
On May 12, 2009, the Treasurer Wayne Swan announced that Australia's retirement age would be increased. The Government will begin increasing the aged-pension age in six-monthly increments from 65 in 2017 to 67 by 2023.
The change has met with a mixed response. Some unofficial polls indicate general acceptance. The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has argued that the retirement age should be 73, while some union spokespeople have argued it should not be raised. Interestingly, despite the position of the BCA, many employers appear reluctant to employ older workers.